Electricite de France, ICAP, UniCredit: European Equity Preview

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies’ shares may
have unusual moves in European trading. Stock symbols are in
parentheses, and prices are from the previous close.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent to 271.38. The
Stoxx 50 Index gained less than 0.1 percent to 2,554.63. The
Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for nations using the euro,
fell 0.5 percent to 2,769.96.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS IM): The global
financial crisis had a limited effect on Italian banks, though
some lenders must “quickly strengthen” their finances in order
to reduce the weight of bad loans on their books and be ready
“to comply with new capital requirements,” Bank of Italy
Governor Mario Draghi said at a press conference in Rome. Monte
dei Paschi, the world’s oldest bank, declined 1.5 percent to 88
euro cents.

Electricite de France SA (EDF FP): Europe’s biggest power
generator will retain its Italian investments after announcing
the sale of a stake in a German utility, Chief Executive Officer
Henri Proglio said on a conference call. Proglio declined to
comment on whether the French utility is seeking to raise its
stake in Edison SpA, Italy’s largest power producer. EDF shares
climbed 0.6 percent to 31.81 euros.

Entrepose Contracting (ENTC FP): The oil and gas contractor
said it signed an 83 million-euro agreement with Societe
Nationale de Distribution des Petroles for the construction of a
liquefied petroleum gas storage center in Tunisia. The shares
rose 3.5 percent to 93 euros.

ICAP Plc (IAP LN): IPGL Ltd. said its wholly-owned
subsidiary, INCAP Finance BV, agreed to sell 6 million shares in
the world’s biggest interdealer broker by means of an
institutional placing to be conducted by HSBC Bank Plc. The
shares rose 1.8 percent to 528 pence.

UniCredit SpA (UCG IM): Italy’s biggest bank is managing
the sale of 1.32 million shares of Austrian holding company RHI
AG, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News.
UniCredit fell 2.8 percent to 1.65 euros.